Playstation 4 Hands On Impressions: Controls, System and Hardware

With it's North American release date intimidatingly imminent anticipation is at an all-time high for the day Playstation 4 finally becomes available in it's first territory, sadly not everyone is as lucky. Europeans like myself, will have to wait a little longer for the rhomboid box of dreams. Even with the official American release of 15th November looming overhead there's certainly time for a few more hands on impressions of the hardware and games before impact, right? Luckily we were fortunate enough to be given the amazing opportunity to play just the other day, so make sure to return for our impressions of games like the charming Knack, day one Playstation Plus perk Contrast as well the surreal Octodad. But first, as we did for the Xbox One a few weeks ago it seems sensible to start at the beginning, with the hardware itself.

Unlike Xbox One's hands on event which found the console sheepishly snuggling it's noticeably larger carriage away just out of clear view, Playstation 4 rested directly in front of us, with only a sheet of hard plastic separating it from the harsh atmosphere of the world. The slanted box is comparable to the Playstation 3 in terms of scale, it's rhombus figure is certainly distinctive and whilst it's arguably more exciting to look at than the Xbox One it's hardly a revelation in technological beauty. It's sleek design is reminiscent of historic Playstation consoles; it's easily identifiable as a member of the family. At the very least it matches it's portable sibling, Vita, which is good because if Sony's to be believed thanks to extensive remote play capabilities the two will likely be found together frequently in the hands of die-hard fans.

A Match Made In Heaven?

Thankfully the way a console looks, I'm reliably informed, has very little bearing on it's actual technical prowess. What does impact on the quality of experience is the controller. Since their initial foray into control design Playstation has remained steadfastly loyal to it's trusty Dualshock brand and, this generation is no different as they enter their fourth iteration on the iconic game pad. Playstation 3's Dualshock 3 has endured a generation of criticism - much of which is justified. When the ergonomics and general functionality are compared to the 360's pad it's widely accepted the money Microsoft spend in R&D was well spent as it's remote is superior. With an unhealthy number of issues comprised from a verdant array including annoying shoulder "triggers", remote size, poorly implemented six axis motion control and even an initial daft removal of rumble claiming it was 'a last gen feature' Dualshock 3 was dependable if not a let down.

Dualshock 4 does an admiral job of rectifying the numerous complaints levied against it's a predecessor and, from the moment it's placed in your hands is a noticeably better control that goes further than it's heritage of tinkering, straying happily, into redesign territory. Those irritating R2 and L2 shoulders buttons that pressed themselves when placed on a table are gone replaced with much more functional triggers. The rough convex rubber top of the thumbsticks have been replaced with smoother smaller concave coatings that feel much better. Re-designed longer handles work ergonomical wonders as the control is significantly more comfortable to hold than the traditional stubby legged approach. The improvements are so vast it's astounding Sony hasn't felt a pressing need to make such adjustments before now. They'll still be naysayers that prefer Xbox but, the chasm between the two has been reduced immensely making personal preference the key decider in which is better - after a generation of being called mad for preferring Dualshock.

Now That's Better, Much Better

Beyond fixing the prevalent complaints regarding Dualshock design Sony has continued to improve their classic in other ways. Traditional changes include noticeably tighter thumbsticks that feel more responsive than previous attempts. Unfortunately they were no FPS on offer to really test the theory, but Knack certainly felt tighter than comparative current gen platformers. Other superficial changes like L3 and R3 presses that don't make plastic clacking noises are reflective of the impressive jump in quality. They're more innovative gambles that Sony has taken on the remote too, that instantly change the whole aesthetic: the lightbar and the touchpad.

During our demos the curious touchpad was never utilized, leaving the field wide open for how developers tie the presence of the surface to features in their titles. It's intriguing to look at and it's addition removes the faithful start and select buttons from the remote entirely - a strangely sad thought. The second big addition, the light bar, only works if consumers also pick up the Playstation Eye camera- a somewhat unlikely scenario as it doesn't come packed with the system in base level bundles. When it is in use though the bar doubles as an in built Playstation move control. The feature seems mostly superficial as the light bar glows a different colour representing different players in local co-op, some developers have explicitly stated they will implement the feature in games, like Killzone actually which will have the light change colour when on low health. Both the touchpad and light bar additions feel huge but, ultimately if the climate is wrong they could both potentially be pushed to the way side.

Crisp and Clean

Microsoft and Sony have both been hesitant to share their system UI with users and this event was no different. During our time with PS4 we utilized a series of basic menus to choose which application we wanted hands on time with. Split into categories like Games, Options and PSN titles the menu were simple and intuitive. Whilst the flair they provided was minimal, from a purely functional point of view they were great, they ran incredibly smoothly, were easy to pick up and use with no instruction. Their clean crisp design wasn't displeasing either as heavily resembled an updated version of the old blue PSN store, as opposed to the current buggy mess.

With about two sessions of fifteen minutes each under my belt I've no qualms about saying the Playstation 4 is an exciting prospect. The Dualshock is a marked improvement in design by Playstation that finally addresses the issues of preceding entries in the range, unshackling it from the frequent recurring complaints that plagued earlier designs. In the process Sony has added other more unusual ideas to their traditional design adding a touchpad, removing start and select and adding a lightbar, all of which feel like exciting gambles that change the aesthetic quality of the stagnating Dualshock series. The UI we were treated to was simple but great and really felt intuitive. The time we spent with Playstation 4 really got us anticipating that European release of 29th November. Sony's ability to accept what was wrong and make brave long overdue iterations to their hardware really makes PS4 feel like the next gen console to watch.

That's not all we've got for you either. Over the next week before release the following links will update with hands on impressions of the following games. Bookmark for ease: